Your brain needs a healthy supply of oxygen and nutrient rich blood in order to function properly. Any lack of oxygen in the brain can contributed to brain fog, fatigue, memory problems or poor cognitive function along with an increased risk of dementia. Essential oils to increase brain oxygen may help.
Although your brain accounts for less than 2% of your total body weight, it consumes approximately 20% of your available oxygen.
This high oxygen demand makes your brain susceptible to damage when brain oxygen levels are low. More specifically, your brain contains the most dense network of blood vessels carrying oxygen in your body. As such, any hindrances in oxygen-rich blood flow can contribute to brain cell death and degeneration.
Risk Factors for Low Blood Flow to Your Brain
The following risk factors can negatively impact blood flow to the brain:
- High or low blood pressure
- Smoking or alcoholism
- Chronic inflammation
- High or Low blood sugar
- Hypothyroidism
- Diabetes
- Anemia
- Chronic stress
- Aging
Symptoms of Low Brain Oxygen
Symptoms that may alert you to poor flow of blood and oxygen to the brain include:
- Cold hands and feet
- Fatigue
- Brain fog
- Erectile Dysfunction
- Toenail and fingernail fungus
- Headaches
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Vertigo
- Dizziness
An easy way to assess healthy circulation is to look at the circulation of the distal extremities like your brain. For example, lack of brain endurance can be attributed to poor circulation.
Conditions Linked to Low Brain Oxygen
When you have an oxygen deficiency in the brain, you will likely experience physical, mental and emotional challenges. For example, your resilience in dealing with stress, ability to concentrate or feel happy or motivated might be compromised.
Similarly, you may experience physical discomfort or slower healing. Poor brain blood flow and circulation can be linked to a number of medical conditions, including:
- Cognitive dysfunction and brain fog
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Dementia
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Depression
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Anxiety
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Panic disorder
- Traumatic brain injury
- Lyme disease
The Healing Power of Oxygen
Oxygen helps expedite your body’s healing process. So increasing your brain’s available oxygen improve your mood, energy and mental clarity while reducing your risk of dementia. It’s not surprise that pharmaceutical drugs designed to improve brain function often enhance blood flow to the brain and improve the brain’s ability to utilize oxygen.
Any kind of injury to your brain, including concussions and TBIs, require good circulation to enhance healing. Your brain is your most vertical tissue and the forces of gravity make it even more challenging to enhance circulation especially during an injury.
In addition, your lymphatic system piggybacks on your circulatory system which not only delivers oxygen rich blood to the brain, but also helps to drain toxins and waste down your neck and out of your brain to be eliminated from your body. If blood flow is stagnant, toxins don’t drain.
Essential Oils to Increase Brain Oxygen
Natural compounds, like essential oils, have been shown to increase circulation and blood flow to the brain. For example, essential oils can help relax and improving the health of your blood vessels. This helps more blood circulate through them, improving your circulation and increasing brain oxygen levels in the process.
Essential oils to increase brain oxygen can also be used to help your veins contract, stimulating blood flow. Essential oils may also help alleviate some of the triglycerides that can form and restrict blood flow. Read More about Essential Oils for Circulation HERE.
What’s more, essential oils that are high in a component called sesquiterpenes including Cedarwood, Vetiver, Spikenard, Sandalwood, Black Pepper, Patchouli, Myrrh, Ginger and Frankincense may help oxygenate your brain. Sesqueterpines are C15 carbon chains that do not contain oxygen molecules, but seem to pull oxygen in. This is one reason that when essential oils that are high in sesqueterpines are topically applied to the brain or inhaled through the nose, oxygen levels seem to increase.
Circulation™ blend in particular is formulated to support healthy circulation to deliver oxygen and nutrient rich blood to the body and the brain, while simultaneously carrying toxins and waste to the kidney and liver to be eliminated. Circulation™ blend contains Black Pepper essential oil, which has been found to enhance circulation, increasing blood flow to your digestive system which helps boost nutrient absorption, so much so that it is often added supplement formulations to enhance the effectiveness of the supplement. Apply 2- 3 drops on the sides or back of the neck, over the left clavicle, on the wrists or ankles to promote circulation and greatly accelerate the healing process.
Clove oil, an active ingredient in the Parasympathetic® blend, helps increase blood flow and improve circulation. The parasympathetic state also helps to lower overall inflammation in the body, which can boost blood flow to the brain.
The parasympathetic state reduces inflammation by triggering your vagus nerve to release anti-inflammatory neurotransmitters. It is your vagus nerve that serves as a detection system for inflammation. The vagus nerve’s vast network of fibers stationed around the organs identify inflammation (such as the presence of inflammatory proteins) and alert your brain to send out anti-inflammatory signals, in essence helping to prevent chronic inflammation in your body.
The Parasympathetic state helps improve communication between your body and your brain to help modulate your inflammatory response. In the parasympathetic state, your vagus nerve communicates with the rest of the body by releasing the neurotransmitter acetylcholine which acts as a brake on inflammation in your body, inhibiting the production of pro-inflammatory messengers. (Read more about Parasympathetic for Inflammation HERE)
To help reduce the over-production of the chemical messenger that causes chronic inflammation and improve circulation to your brain, apply the Parasympathetic® oil on your vagus nerve (behind the earlobe on the mastoid bone). Research has shown strong decrease in inflammatory symptoms from stimulating your vagus nerve to activate the parasympathetic state. Research also shows that vagus nerve stimulation seems to restore the body’s natural balance. It reduces the over-production of the chemical messenger that causes chronic inflammation but does not affect healthy immune function, so the body can respond normally to infection. (Read More about Improving Parasympathetic Tone to Reduce Inflammation HERE).
Finally, exercise helps to increase brain blood flow and circulation. Research shows that moderate exercise increases blood flow to the brain by as much as 15%.
High-intensity interval training in particular dilates blood vessels, lowers inflammation, and improves blood flow to the brain. This involves reaching your maximum heart rate with a short but vigorous burst of exercise, resting, and repeating. Topically applying Circulation or Parasympathetic over the brain stem (at the base of the skull in back) can help amplify the positive oxygenating effect of exercise. Read More about essential oils for exercise HERE.
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